Premium seating classes on long-haul carriers can be equipped with individual passenger suites for enhanced privacy and comfort. Suites can include lie-flat capable seats, ottomans, audio/video equipment, tables and closets, among other amenities. Suites are typically found on wide-body jets where more space is available for accommodating the travel preferences of premium class passengers who can afford to pay higher fares for more space, privacy, conveniences and luxuries.
With all seating classes, there is a need to arrange the seats to maximize density without compromising space, privacy, and accessibility. On current wide-body jets, suites are arranged into a center column and outboard columns, and suite access is provided directly from the longitudinal aisles that run from the front to the back of the passenger cabin. As such, each suite is required to be positioned adjacent to one of the longitudinal aisles, or access to an outboard suite provided through an adjacent inboard suite, disadvantageously interrupting the privacy of the passenger seated in the inboard suite. Such arrangements also limit the number of suites that can be positioned abreast and/or requires the suites to be positioned at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft.